Another perspective from the UAE, Apple Pay is widely used here and again I struggle to find anywhere that will not accept it, whether that be by phone or AW. My wife pays for everything with her AW.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Do I ACTUALLY need an Apple Watch?
- Thread starter dawnrazor
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Do I NEED it? No.
But as someone living with afib and pvc’s, it’s nice to know when I’m having an episode so I can take appropriate measures.
Now, it Apple ever integrates blood sugar monitoring into the AW, then as a type II diabetic, at that point YES, I’ll need the Apple Watch.
But we all know that’s a feature that will never happen.
But as someone living with afib and pvc’s, it’s nice to know when I’m having an episode so I can take appropriate measures.
Now, it Apple ever integrates blood sugar monitoring into the AW, then as a type II diabetic, at that point YES, I’ll need the Apple Watch.
But we all know that’s a feature that will never happen.
Series 5 is very likely my last Apple Watch.
Maybe because the pandemic got in the way which made the watch completely redundant (especially as I've carpet-bombed my house with iPads and Homepods so I can pick up something to look at or yell at something in every room) but even during 2019-early 2020 I ended up using it primarily as an Airpod Pro volume control.
My guided workouts are with a man who shouts at me thru Zoom and I don't really have a burning need to have every statistic of my health elements (with dubious accuracy anyway). I check notifications on my own accord, not every time my wrist vibrates. etc etc.
I actually religiously used my Bands which I liked for their focus on what they did well, but since their demise and switch to Android then Apple smart watches, my reliance on them has basically gone down to nothing.
Maybe because the pandemic got in the way which made the watch completely redundant (especially as I've carpet-bombed my house with iPads and Homepods so I can pick up something to look at or yell at something in every room) but even during 2019-early 2020 I ended up using it primarily as an Airpod Pro volume control.
My guided workouts are with a man who shouts at me thru Zoom and I don't really have a burning need to have every statistic of my health elements (with dubious accuracy anyway). I check notifications on my own accord, not every time my wrist vibrates. etc etc.
I actually religiously used my Bands which I liked for their focus on what they did well, but since their demise and switch to Android then Apple smart watches, my reliance on them has basically gone down to nothing.
I never wanted an Apple Watch. However, when I was going through a bout of insomnia, I thought it would be helpful to track how much sleep I was actually getting. So I got a watch and I love it. I like being able to see things on my wrist without having to take my phone out of my pocket or purse.
Interestingly, if you have been diagnosed as suffering from afib (AF over here in the UK) and have AF history switched on, the AF notifications is not available. Apple say “Since the irregular rhythm notifications feature is not intended for people with AF, it will be turned off automatically when you set up AF History.” (https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212214)
I don’t see why.
I sleep with an Ultra. I’ve pretty much always slept with a watch on though. Must have built up plenty of arm strength over the years
I can back this up.
I am based in the UK but work for a rather large US bank in Payments as it happens. My team is 100% in the US so I work Hybrid US hours everyday and some of the technology we are rolling out into our merchants now, are everywhere in the UK. My colleagues think they are inventing the wheel in some instances lol, rather than reinventing it!
I visited the US a couple of years back with work and when I made a card payment, I was asked to sign the receipt!! What?! I hadn’t done that in over a decade in the UK and it was still popular over there. I was amazed even at that point that not only were contactless payments only in select places, but chip and pin wasn’t even everywhere. No offence to my American friends of course but it shocked me at the time considering how developed the US is on the World stage. We’ve definitely got a more modern approach here in Europe. They are even up to date for payments in the UAE in comparison.
I did a road trip down to Memphis a few years back and stopped in a Subway to grab some food. When I went to pay I tapped my phone on the POS machine and the lady said “Huh? What did you just do?” 😂
Sleeping with Ultra 2 since November, no problema at all in my experience.
Ended up buying a new S9 cellular for a good price, was $800AUD cheaper than a ultra 2.
Well what are your real and true “musts” vs “wants”?
Only you can answer that.
I’m an avid snow skier / mountain biker. For me knowing biking stats like; trail time, vertical feet climbed, HR are key. Same for skiing; # runs, vert feet, time on mountain, etc.
I used these 2 techy watches from 1997 thru later 2010’s for those stats , then I used iPhone for them, till my AWU2 December 2023. I’ve had Apple Watch 2, 5, 7 prior but not used for stats like I do the AWU2. Mainly due to the great accuracy of the dual gps on the AWU2, truly I’m amazed.
Only you can answer that.
I’m an avid snow skier / mountain biker. For me knowing biking stats like; trail time, vertical feet climbed, HR are key. Same for skiing; # runs, vert feet, time on mountain, etc.
I used these 2 techy watches from 1997 thru later 2010’s for those stats , then I used iPhone for them, till my AWU2 December 2023. I’ve had Apple Watch 2, 5, 7 prior but not used for stats like I do the AWU2. Mainly due to the great accuracy of the dual gps on the AWU2, truly I’m amazed.
This is a question I have been grappling with for some time now, longer then I care to admit… Is the AW on my wrist actually necessary in my life, does it make my life better, would I miss it if it were not there?
How to go about ascertaining an informed personal answer is what I have been grappling with. I could have gone cold turkey ages ago, but that seemed like a waste of a perfectly decent watch so I never entertained that as an option, then a set of events presented the perfect opportunity to do just that…
So my wife and I both have similarly aged 2019 Series 5 Aluminium Apple watches, hers is 40mm and mine is 45mm. I always felt the 40mm was too small to be any use but she liked it. These are our 3rd AWs.
Anyway, her battery has been acting up, had been above 80% capacity for ages then all of a sudden its now at 75% and wont last a day, no apple care and they are too old anyway… might look at getting a new battery put in but thats a different days work. The battery in my 45mm is 83%… so not exactly all that much better, basically these watches both need new batteries but at least mine lasts all day.
So we have unpaired both watches and retired my wife’s 40mm and she now has my 45mm AW. I have dug out an old digital alarm clock and my old G-Shock Mudman…
I am Apple Watch free for the first time since the Series 1…
Let the experiment begin!
The two questions we want answering are, one, whether my wife should really be rocking the larger AW and would get more use from it, she actively uses her AW and is looking at getting a series 9. Two, whether I need an Apple Watch at all, whether I can get by without one or if there are aspects of it that are so ubiquitous that I have utterly overlooked them and will find myself desperately missing my Apple Watch…
I have no idea what the answers will be… but we are doing this
watch this space
see what I did there…..
Last edited: